A ShikaNaru in Time
by Argetlam Nikki
Summary: After Naruto becomes Hokage a devastating world war breaks out between the nations. Naruto, however, finds a summoning contract for an angel, left to him by his father. With this, Naruto learns that there is a way to send both he and Shikamaru back in time to change the course of the world, and maybe fall in love while doing so. ShikaNaru. Oc for first chapter to move things along


**ATTENTION ALL READERS! THERE IS AN OC, BUT ONLY FOR THE PURPOSE OF STARTING THE STORY. SHE WILL BE GONE FOREVER IN CHAPTER TWO, SO YOU CAN DISREGARD HER. SHE IS ONLY THERE TO SEND THE TWO BACK IN TIME!** And on that note, enjoy the story! Thank you and I love you all!

~Nikki

The air was thick, making it hard to breathe, tasting of blood and smoke. Bodies were scattered at random, limbs positioned at unnatural angles, the corpses so mangled you couldn't tell one person from the next. Men, women, children, animals. Nothing was left untouched. The Hokage gazed around at the blood stained ground knowing that the battle could not continue much longer. Four years of blood, pain, and suffering and still no end results. Hearing a faint rustling sound at the opening of the tent, the battle worn Hokage turned to face the uninvited guest, and was startled to see his best warrior, a guardian angel, walk in.

"Naru," She murmured, her foot dragging as the raven limped in painfully. "It's time."

"Does that mean you've come to kill me?" The blonde asked impassively.

"No," The raven haired woman said. "Never. I've finally received permission to change the course of history from the higher ups. Naruto, I can send you back. Back in time, so you can change the course of history and make it so that this war never happens. You can save them…" She trailed off in a whisper.

"Laney," Naruto whispered. "Why me? Of all the people to send back, why me? This war is my fault, so I should be here to watch it end. Even if it means my death, I am the Hokage, and it's my duty to die for my people, and there's no way I can abandon them, especially not after so long."

"Naruto," Laney said. "As soon as you go back in time, if you are successful, this world will crumble, as if it were never here in the first place. Everyone will be safe, and more importantly, alive."

"But what about all the relationships I've made? All of my friends, I'll be too old to rebuild them. It'd be creepy! What about-what about…" Naruto trailed off.

"You're worried about Shikamaru, aren't you?" Laney asked with a caring smile on her face.

"He's all I have left," Naruto said so quietly it was almost inaudible. "Everyone else is gone. It's just been us two for years. Years, Laney. How the hell am I supposed to be able to give that all up?"

"I never said you would have to go alone, did I?" Laney said her eyes cast downwards.

"What?" Naruto gasped. "Are you saying… Laney…"

"Yes, Naru," She said. "I'm sending the both of you back. It's the logical thing to do after all, sending you back with someone to lean on."  
"But I thought you hated him?" Naruto asked confused.

"I do, but he's a genius, and you need someone you can trust to watch your back," The raven haired angel said without making eye contact. "Now hush and stay put. I'm going to go retrieve the bastard."

Tears filled Naruto's eyes as he watched her limp back out of the tent, a flush of happiness on his cheeks.

 _Someone to watch my back my foot,_ He thought. _You're doing this because you know I love him, even if he will never love me back. That is why you hate him, after all. I couldn't have asked for a better surprise when I found one of my dad's old summoning scrolls. Who could have thought that you could summon guardian angels? No wonder my dad became Hokage so young. And to think, that she was the reason I survived the Kyuubi being sealed into me. I hope one day I'll be able to properly thank her, especially after all she's done for me._

 _She's such a gentle thing, and I feel awful forcing her to fight, but she was created to fight. As much as she hates it, it is that hate that makes her truly strong, just like Itachi. Even now, she stands by my side after four years of killing, just to send me back to a time to prevent this war from ever happening. It's taken her years to figure out the jutsu, and according to the seal she showed me, it'll probably kill her, but she has no problem with it since she is my summon._

 _I know that years ago, I never would have allowed someone to take their own life by performing a jutsu like this, but it's been too long. I've seen too much pain, and I no longer feel that her sacrifice is unnecessary. My only hope is that with the resetting of time, she will be resurrected. I'm probably too cold for my own good anymore, but the only people I have left are Shikamaru and Laney, and I'm not about to lose them both so that I may live. Forgive me, Laney. I hope you make it back to heaven safely._

Laney walked back into the tent dragging behind her a very sleep-disoriented Shikamaru who was rapidly blinking trying to wake himself up fully. Eyes resting on his friend, Naruto felt his heart soften and soar in his chest. He was used to this by now, the feeling of butterflies in his stomach every time he saw his last living friend and advisor.

"What the hell is going on that's so important you had to wake me up from the first sleep I've had in days, you ass?" Shikamaru growled at Laney.

"Nothing much, bastard, just thought you'd like to know that Naruto is leaving to the past to reset time in a few minutes, and I thought you'd like to tag along. But I guess I was wrong," Laney snapped. "Go on then, leave. You obviously find your sleep more important than Naruto, so go back to bed."

"Wait, what?" Shikamaru asked, shocked. "You actually agreed to go back in time, Naruto? You're the Hokage! You can't just abandon your people!"

"You know, bastard, there was a point in time when I didn't utterly despise you," Laney mused. "It's when you started saying bull like that that I really started to dislike you."

"Stay the hell out of it, asshole," Shikamaru snarled. "Naruto, why would you agree to this?"

Disturbed by their fighting, Naruto quickly responded, "Because if we reset time, this reality crumbles. All the pain and torture, it'll be as if it never happened. And it will happen instantaneously, too. No one will even know that we left… We can fix it, Shika. We can save everyone's lives, including our own."

"That sound too good to be true," Shikamaru said. "There must be some sort of repercussions. There's no way such a powerful jutsu can exist with just the power of chakra. You remember Lady Chiyo, she died giving Gaara life. This could save millions of lives, so there's no way this doesn't have a cost. So, who's going to die?"

"Sharper than a blade, like always, bastard," Laney said, a bit of laughter in her voice. "You're absolutely correct. In order for this jutsu to work, it would take nearly one hundred ninja, who would all die of chakra exhaustion in order to send you both. Luckily, you have me, and thousands of dying ninja to do the deed."

"You're not saying…" A horrified expression made itself known on the Nara's face. "You're going to drain chakra from people who are already dying to send us back!? That's horrifying! Why the hell would you do that?"

Naruto realized exactly what Shikamaru had said and wheeled on Laney.

"What the hell!" He roared. "You never said anything about that!"

"That's why you can't trust the asshole," Shikamaru growled. "She's a monster who doesn't give a shit about human life other than yours because you are her summoner. Can't you see that now?"

"Laney…" Naruto gasped in disbelief.

"The bastard is wrong Naruto," Laney said monotonously. "What I'm proposing is taking chakra from mostly dead ninja scattered about who would die anyways. I already have enough to do most the work, I only need a little more. I swear to you, I care about everyone you care about, that is how I am. My likes, dislikes, friends, enemies, those are all dictated by you. You like people, therefore I like people. You don't want people to die unnecessarily; therefore I do not kill, unnecessarily. I would never do anything that goes against your wishes, it's in my contract that I cannot. So please, trust me on this, Naru."

Laney saw a small flicker of irritation in Shikamaru's eyes as Laney begged Naruto to believe her, and not his own advisor. After a moment of hesitation, Naruto decided he would believe the dark haired angel, knowing that it was indeed written in her contract not to do anything that displeases her master. Turning back to Shikamaru, Naruto lowered his head in apology as he accepted Laney's answer.

"Laney," He said quietly, "Send us back."

"Hai," She whispered.

As she quietly crossed the floor, Naruto reflected on everything that had happened over the last four years. All his lost friends face's flickered through the Hokage's face as he held back his tears for the last time in this world.

"Naruto," Laney said. "Take the bastard's hand."

"Okay," Naruto said reaching over to grab it without hesitation. "How far back are you going to send us?"

"As far back as I can. I can only send you back as far as you were alive, however, so you need to be prepared to fight." She responded.

"Fight?" Naruto asked confused.

"Fight," Laney confirmed. "You were born during the Kyuubi no Kitsune attack, right?"

"Yeah?" Naruto said confused. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"I should think it obvious. You need to use your mastery of seals and reseal the Kyuubi back inside Kushina Uzumaki so that neither she nor Minato Namikaze dies. That ought to change the timeline quite a bit. Still, though, there are some other things you should try to change. The Uchiha Massacre, for example, will still take place if you don't bring the Yondaime's attention to it. Also, considering the Yondaime was the one who partially invented this jutsu in the first place, I recommend telling him who you are so that way you will avoid having any problems with entering the village ranks. You might want to leave out the whole, 'I'm your son part,' though," Laney finished.

"And if I mess this up?" Naruto asked.

"Then there's a wide possibility that the future will remain mostly unchanged, and you'll have failed your mission. All of this will come to pass and your people will simply think you abandoned them," The angel answered gravely.

Now fully understanding the importance of saving his father and mother, Naruto started to shake knowing that if he messed this up, then he was a failure, and everyone would have the rights to hate him. Suddenly, Shikamaru squeezed his hand as he felt his only friend starting to shake under the pressure. Startled, Naruto turned his head to face his advisor, and was met with a reassuring smile. Feeling his heart leap into his chest, Naruto decided to do something he'd wanted to do for years. The Hokage pulled Shikamaru into a warm hug and inhaled deeply, finding comfort in the one who unknowingly owned the jinchūriki's heart.

Slightly startled, Shikamaru hesitated before hugging the broken blonde back. As stupid as he was when it came to emotions, the Nara could see that Naruto needed this right now, so he allowed himself a moment to return the embrace. After a couple of seconds, Laney bit her thumb drawing blood, ready to perform the jutsu that would change the rest of their lives, and change history as they knew it. Gently drawing away from his friend, Shikamaru turned to face her.

"So, what do we have to do?" Shikamaru asked.

"Simply stand still and let me draw this seal on both of your foreheads. It will only take a moment," Laney assured them.

As the raven haired woman limped forward, Naruto once again clasped hands with his friend, ready to allow the her to do what she needed. Taking a few minutes each, the seals were finished and the woman stepped back to observe her handywork. Smiling slightly and nodding in approval, she began to fly through hand signs too fast for the eye to follow. Hitting her last seal, a gorgeous golden light poured out of the seal on their foreheads and connected to a thread of light emanating from Laney's chest. Both Shikamaru and Naruto closed their eyes at the intenseness of it.

"Oi, bastard," Laney gasped, clutching her chest. "No, Shikamaru. I need you to listen to me for a moment. When you go back into the past, all you're going to have there is Naruto. He'll be the only thing there to keep you sane, and vice versa. So then, there's something you should know since I know he'll never tell you in order to keep your friendship. That idiot over there decided to fall in love with you. Don't ask me why, as I honestly can't stand you, but he loves you, so I expect that you'll treat him carefully."

Shocked, Shikamaru's eyes flew open and he looked at Naruto in a whole new light, finally understanding why he'd been treating him like glass for the last few years.

Gasping out loud, Naruto yelled, "Laney! What the hell!?"

Ignoring this, Laney turned to face Naruto.

"Also Naruto, I lied," The raven haired woman began. "As an angel, anything that happens to me is permanent. Even if you do reset time, I will stay dead, and you will never see me again, so you need to make sure you succeed in saving your parents, or else your infant self will die unable to handle that much chakra without me there to slowly filter it in. I'm sorry I lied, Naruto, but I knew that this was the only was the way I would get you to agree to this."

"Wait what!?" Naruto exclaimed. "How many bombshells are you planning on dropping right now!?"

"That was my last one," Laney sighed feeling her strength rapidly fading. "Shikamaru, take care of Naruto, he means the world to me. He is the reason I got to live as a human for so long. I may not like you, but as long as I know you'll continue to be there for him, I can die without hating you. So, promise me, Shikamaru Nara, that you will always watch over him."

"NO!" Naruto yelled. "Please Laney, don't leave me! Not you too!"

"I promise," Shikamaru swore.

"Thank you," Laney said. "Goodbye, Naruto. Have fun with your parents. Goodluck. I love you."

"NO!" Naruto roared as loud as he could, but it was too late. Everything flashed gold and they were gone.

Laney staggered forward as she felt her soul shatter from using the jutsu. Stumbling outside, Laney collapsed onto her back, staring at the sky watching as it too started to shatter, this reality breaking apart.

 _They did it,_ Laney thought happily.

Smiling, whispered her last goodbyes to the world, and everything faded black.

 **END OC**


End file.
